Lawyer Advising on Astor Affairs Was Suspended for Two Years

Published: August 4, 2006

For more than 40 years, Brooke Astor and her fortune were represented by one of New York's most well-regarded law firms, Sullivan & Cromwell, where a succession of top partners served as her personal counsel.

That longtime relationship, though, was ended early in 2004, when Mrs. Astor's son, Anthony D. Marshall, told the firm that its services were no longer wanted. From that point on, Mr. Marshall, who previously had shared the legal power to act on his mother's behalf with a lawyer from the firm, effectively assumed sole authority to oversee her financial affairs.

It is not clear why Sullivan & Cromwell was dismissed after such a long history with Mrs. Astor. What is evident, however, is that while the firm was receding from its place at her side, another lawyer, one with a far different history, was increasingly involved in financial matters concerning Mrs. Astor.

The lawyer, Francis X. Morrissey Jr., had been suspended from practicing law in the state for two years in the 1990's and accused in court of mishandling a client's account and trying to profit improperly from a friend's estate. Nonetheless, Mr. Morrissey, 63, did legal work for Mrs. Astor in recent years, advising her on estate planning.

Mr. Morrissey's work for Mrs. Astor was arranged through Mr. Marshall, according to people who know both men.

Under the direction of Mr. Marshall, hundreds of thousands of dollars have flowed in recent years from Mrs. Astor's accounts to Delphi Productions, his three-year-old theater production company, to finance Broadway plays. Mr. Marshall, who said his mother was aware of the investments in his company, is Delphi's chairman; Mr. Morrissey sits on its board and is an investor.

Yesterday, Kenneth E. Warner, a lawyer for Mr. Marshall, said that his client did not know about Mr. Morrissey's past legal problems and doubted that Mrs. Astor did. Mr. Warner said Mrs. Astor had wanted her son to have sole power over her affairs. And he said that Mr. Morrissey had a longstanding friendship with Mrs. Astor, New York's grande dame of philanthropy and high society, dating to the 1970's.

''Whatever judgments Mrs. Astor and Mr. Marshall made were based on their personal experience with Mr. Morrissey,'' Mr. Warner said. ''There is nothing unusual about a trusted and warmly thought of friend of Mrs. Astor, who is a lawyer, also doing legal work for her.''

Mr. Morrissey did not respond to numerous messages left at his home and office over the last several days.

Revelations about Mrs. Astor's lawyers are the latest to emerge concerning how her estate has been managed in recent years, as she became increasingly frail and withdrew from public view. Mr. Marshall's management of his mother's affairs is under attack from his son Philip Marshall, who filed a lawsuit accusing his father of enriching himself at Mrs. Astor's expense while neglecting her health. It also seeks to remove Mr. Marshall as Mrs. Astor's legal guardian. Mr. Marshall has vigorously denied the charges.

Sullivan & Cromwell began representing Mrs. Astor after her third husband, Vincent Astor, died in 1959, according to information released by the firm yesterday. Several partners in the firm, including David W. Peck, a former chief judge of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, have served as her counsel. The last partner to represent Mrs. Astor was Henry Christensen III, an expert in estate law.

In addition to sharing power of attorney with Mr. Marshall to act on Mrs. Astor's behalf in legal and financial matters, Mr. Christensen was a trustee, along with Mrs. Astor and Mr. Marshall, of the Vincent Astor Foundation, the philanthropic organization that Mrs. Astor ran until 2002. Documents approving contributions show that all three trustees normally signed off on them.

Mr. Christensen played a role in helping Mrs. Astor transfer her seaside estate in Maine to Mr. Marshall. His signature is on the deed that transferred the title to the estate in Northeast Harbor, Me., in May 2003. It is also signed by Mr. Morrissey, who notarized the transaction.

Later that year, Mr. Marshall gave ownership of the property, now estimated to be worth more than $5 million, to his wife, Charlene.

Yesterday, Mr. Warner said Mr. Morrissey's role as a notary in the deed transfer was insignificant.

Mr. Christensen was discharged as Mrs. Astor's attorney in February 2004, for reasons that are unclear. He would not comment on why the relationship had ended.

Mr. Morrissey, in addition to providing legal advice for Mrs. Astor, was also present when Mr. Marshall had Mrs. Astor's Westchester estate closed in January 2005, before two of her friends intervened to have it reopened for the summer, according to a person involved in the lawsuit against Anthony Marshall. The preparation of legal documents for Mrs. Astor has been handled by another lawyer, G. Warren Whitaker, of the firm Day, Berry & Howard.

As for Mr. Morrissey's past legal entanglements, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court suspended him on Nov 16, 1995, from practicing law for two years after a dispute over fees with a client, a Spanish concern called the Mar Oil Company. According to the court's finding, after the company balked at Morrissey's request for a $960,000 fee back in 1983, he went ahead and withdrew the money from its escrow account.

Mr. Morrissey was reinstated to practice law in 1998.

More recently, a public administrator appointed by a surrogate's court filed objections to Mr. Morrissey's role in helping to execute the will of a longtime friend, a 91-year-old woman who lived on Park Avenue until her death in 2000. The administrator contended that the will ''was procured by the undue influence and fraud of Morrissey and others acting in concert with him.''

Mr. Morrissey still received a significant portion of the money designated for him in the will through a settlement agreement with other parties involved in the case. Mr. Morrissey's lawyer in the legal proceeding, John R. Morken, said his client ''absolutely denied any wrongdoing.''